ANCIENT EMPIRES SERIES #1 (1200 BC)
"End of the Bronze Age" Scenario, v1.1a (9/99)

by Paul Cullivan (pculliva@whc.net)


**** THE SCENARIO ****

The year is 1200 B.C. The place is the Ancient Middle East. It's a time when four large empires are contending for dominance in the Levant region (today's Syria, Israel and Lebanon.) Several of these cultures have existed for thousands of years, their power alternately rising and falling depending on the fortunes of their ruling dynasties. But now, something has changed. A combination of peoples in motion and an innovative new military technology have dramatically altered the old balance of power. It's the end of the Bronze Age and mighty empires are about to crumble! Will yours be one of them?
The top contenders:

Egypt: A large empire, but diplomatic failures have cost them most of the Levant.
Babylon: An ancient culture, long past it's prime. Geography could be an ally.
Assyria: New, dynamic, an up-and-coming power. But a possible war on 3 fronts?
Hittites: Have just destroyed the rival Mitanni Empire. At the apex of their power. 
Sea Peoples: The greatest enigma of the Ancient World. And about to change everything!

Greeks: Young, small, out of the way. Not recommended for play.
Minor Powers: A group of small, widely separated kingdoms. Not historical to play.

The Gods of War are thirsting for blood. Don't disappoint them!

**** INSTALLATION ****

This scenario must be played with the changes to your Civ2 game that come with the Fantastic Worlds CD-Rom.

Assuming you have installed Fantastic Worlds, follow this simple procedure:
Make a new folder in the "scenario" folder (which is inside your civ2 folder).  Name the folder "AE-1200B". Put all the non-.wav files you downloaded in this folder. Create a subfolder within "AE-1200B" and call it "Sound". Place all .wav files in this folder.

**** CHANGES FOR v1.1a ****

- Fixed Rules.txt so Bireme I and Trireme are made obsolete by "Improved Galleys", not "Class Structure" (oops)
- Diplomat cost reduced from 100 shields to 80. They were too expensive.
- Caravan movement points increased from 2 to 3. Improves gameplay.
- Made some small adjustments to the Events.txt file. A few minor events weren't operating properly.
- A minor text change to the Game.txt file.

**** THE PLAYERS ****
 
Egyptians: The Egyptian Empire began as a Nile-based kingdom @3200 B.C., and continued it's separate existence up until the Roman conquest. It suffered periodic invasions, but was always able to bounce back. The empire reached it's height @1500 B.C., but slowly lost it's Syrian territories as the focus turned to internal matters. This was one of the few Empires which was relatively untouched by the events of 1200 B.C. Probably the "easiest" of the Empires, since they effectively have to fight only a one-front war, and their historical enemy (The Hittites) has bigger problems!

Babylonians: Babylonia was really weaker than they appear here. In fact, a few years before the scenario begins, Babylon was sacked by the Assyrians. Beginning as a series of independent Sumerian City-States, this Mesopotamian culture is one of the most ancient in the world. They always had problems however, due to unfriendly neighbors on all sides. In this scenario, they are at permanent war with Assyria, and totally untouched by the depredations of the Sea Peoples. Almost as "easy" as the Egyptians, except their enemy is right next door!

Assyrians: This new empire arose following the destruction of the Mitanni Empire in central Syria. They have quite a bright future in store for them, historically. Between 900-600 B.C. they will dominate the Fertile Crescent, building an empire which includes all of Babylon, Syria, Israel, and Egypt. For now however, they have an unhappy Hittite Empire to the west and a mortal enemy (Babylon) to the Southeast. North is their ancestral enemy, Urartu. So the Assyrians have their work cut out for them! Fairly challenging.

Hittites: Beginning @1650 B.C., this empire slowly gained power in Central Anatolia (modern Turkey) and began to extend it's reach southward into Syria. By 1200 B.C. it was a large empire at it's very height. The Hittites had recently destroyed one of their enemies, the Egyptian ally Mitanni, and were beginning to follow up on Egypt's southward retreat. And that's when all hell broke loose! Suffice it to say, the Hittites disappeared from history. This is a challenging empire to play!

Sea Peoples: Historians believe they were a blend of peoples from Sardinia (Sherden), Sicily, Asia Minor, & Greece (the Odyssey may be a tale which reflects Greek participation in their invasions). There's an Egyptian sculpted relief commemorating Rameses III's great victory over the Sea Peoples in 1200 B.C., and you can see the prisoners wearing a wide variety of clothing styles. The best known group of "Sea Peoples" are the Biblical Philistines, who conquered the seacoast of southern palestine, and went mano-a-mano with the Israelites for centuries (Goliath vs. David, etc.) The "Sea People" unit was modeled on a Philistine warrior. There is still plenty of dispute about their attacks. Was it an organized invasion, a series of piratical raids, or just a coincidence. No one really knows for sure. The one thing we do know is that a large number of eastern mediterranean coastal cities were sacked right around 1200 B.C. Not so coincidentally, the exact same group that has hordes of Sea Peoples gathered around them at the start of the scenario! The Sea Peoples start off in pretty good shape, but they are widely separated and permanently at war with the Hittites, Egypt, and the Minor Powers. Quite challenging to play.

Greeks: These Greeks are the Myceneans who we know from Homer's Trojan War sagas. Historically not a single kingdom, but rather a group of independent city-states. They really are at the very periphery of the scenario, a long way off from the center of activity in the Syria/Israel region. Playing the Greeks would be a REAL challenge, but I recommend you play one of the other Major Powers first, if only because they experience most of the interesting events.

Minor Powers: These represent a group of small, widely separated kingdoms. Those that survive the initial onslaught of the Sea Peoples include the kindoms of Israel, Elam, Phoenicia, and Rhodes. You could try and play them, but it certainly wouldn't be historical.

**** THE UNITS ****

NAME             PREREQ   MOVE   ATT DEF  HP FIRE COST   OBSOLETE?                 ORIGINAL?

Infantry
Warriors, 		Las, 0,  1.,0,  1a,1d,  1h,1f,  1,0,  1, nil,	000000000000000
Spearmen,		Too, 0,  1.,0,  2a,2d,  1h,1f,  2,0,  1, Las, 	000000000000000  ; Phalanx
Skirmishers,	nil, 0,  1.,0,  3a,1d,  1h,1f,  2,0,  0, Feu, 	000001000000000  ; Legion
Swordsmen,		Fli, 0,  1.,0,  3a,2d,  1h,1f,  3,0,  0, Esp, 	000000000000000  ; Archers
Bronze Inf I,	Too, 0,  1.,0,  4a,2d,  1h,1f,  3,0,  0, Fli, 	000000000000000  ; Musketeers
Bronze Inf II,	Too, 0,  1.,0,  5a,2d,  2h,2f,  4,0,  0, NF,  	000010000000100  ; Pikemen
Iron Infantry I, 	Ref, 0,  1.,0,  5a,3d,  2h,2f,  4,0,  1, Too,	000010000000000  ; Riflemen
Iron Infantry II,	Gun, 0,  1.,0,  6a,3d,  2h,2f,  5,0,  0, Min, 	000010000000000  ; Alpine Troops
Phalanx I,		Ref, 0,  2.,0,  7a,3d,  2h,2f,  6,0,  0, Gun, 	000000000000000  ; Fighter
Phalanx II,		Ref, 0,  2.,0,  9a,3d,  2h,2f,  8,0,  0, Ldr, 	000000000000000  ; Bomber
Legion I,		nil, 0,  2.,0,  8a,4d,  2h,2f,  8,0,  1, Ref, 	000000000000000  ; Helicopter
Legion II,		nil, 0,  2.,0, 10a,4d,  2h,2f, 10,0,  0, X5,  	000000000000000  ; Stlth Ftr.
Legion III,		nil, 0,  2.,0, 12a,4d,  3h,3f, 12,0,  0, X6,  	000000000000000  ; Test Unit 7
Legion IV,		nil, 0,  2.,0, 14a,4d,  4h,4f, 16,0,  0, Lab, 	000000000000001  ; Test Unit 8

Chariots
Early Chariot,	Gen, 0,  2.,0,  3a,1d,  1h,1f,  3,0,  0, Whe, 	000000000000000  ; Chariot
Chariot I,   	Met, 0,  3.,0,  4a,1d,  1h,1f,  5,0,  0, Gen, 	100000000000000  ; Knights
Chariot II, 	Gun, 0,  4.,0,  5a,2d,  1h,1f,  5,0,  0, ToG, 	100000000000000  ; Crusaders
Chariot III, 	Gun, 0,  4.,0,  7a,2d,  1h,1f,  8,0,  0, Met, 	100000000000000  ; Test Unit 2
Chariot IV,   	Gun, 0,  4.,0,  9a,2d,  2h,2f, 10,0,  0, Csc, 	100000000000000  ; Test Unit 3

Cavalry
Horsemen,     	Roc, 0,  4.,0,  2a,1d,  1h,1f,  3,0,  0, Hor, 	100000000000000
Light Cavalry,	nil, 0,  5.,0,  4a,1d,  2h,1f,  2,0,  0, Roc, 	100000000000000  ; Elephant
Heavy Cavalry,	nil, 0,  3.,0,  6a,3d,  2h,2f,  8,0,  0, X3,  	100000000000000  ; Dragoons
Armored Cavalry,	nil, 0,  3.,0,  9a,4d,  2h,3f, 12,0,  0, Mob,  	100000000000000  ; Marines
War Elephant, 	nil, 0,  3.,0,  7a,3d,  2h,2f, 12,0,  0, X4,  	000000000000000  ; Extra Land

Siege Weapons
Ladder Tower, 	U3,  0,  1.,0,  4a,1d,  1h,1f,  2,0,  0, Whe, 	000000001000000  ; Catapult
Catapult,     	nil, 0,  2.,0,  6a,1d,  1h,1f,  6,0,  0, Mat, 	000000001000000  ; Artillery
Battering Ram,	nil, 0,  1.,0,  7a,1d,  1h,1f,  5,0,  0, U2,  	000000001000000  ; Cannon
Ballista,     	nil, 0,  2.,0,  7a,1d,  1h,2f,  8,0,  0, Uni, 	000000001000000  ; Extra Ship
Siege Tower,  	nil, 0,  1.,0,  9a,1d,  1h,2f, 10,0,  0, U3,  	000000001000000  ; Armor
Armored Tower,	nil, 0,  1.,0, 14a,2d,  2h,2f, 16,0,  0, Eng, 	000010001000000  ; Howitzer
Mining,       	nil, 0,  2.,0, 10a,0d,  2h,2f,  8,0,  0, U1,  	001000001000000  ; Cruise Msl.
Greek Fire,   	nil, 0,  0.,0,  0a,4d,  3h,1f,  8,0,  1, X7, 	000000000000000  ; Caravan

Naval 
Early Galley, 	Plu, 2,  3.,0,  2a,1d,  1h,1f, 10,2,  2, RR,  	100000000100010  ; Trireme
Trikonter,    	Tac, 2,  3.,0,  4a,1d,  1h,1f,  3,0,  2, Sup, 	100000000101010  ; Destroyer
Pentekonter,  	Phy, 2,  4.,0,  4a,2d,  1h,1f,  4,0,  2, Tac, 	100000000101010  ; Cruiser
Bireme I,    	NP,  2,  4.,0,  5a,2d,  1h,2f,  4,0,  2, Phy, 	100000000101010  ; Aegis Cruiser
Bireme II,    	nil, 2,  6.,0,  5a,3d,  2h,2f,  5,0,  2, NP,  	100000000001011  ; Submarine
Trireme,      	NP,  2,  4.,0,  6a,3d,  2h,2f,  6,0,  2, Plu, 	100000000101010  ; Battleship
Quadrireme,   	X1,  2,  6.,0,  6a,3d,  2h,2f,  7,1,  2, Mag, 	100000000000010  ; Ironclad
Quinquireme,  	nil, 2,  6.,0,  7a,4d,  3h,3f,  8,2,  2, X1,  	100000000000010  ; Frigate
Dromon,       	nil, 2,  5.,0,  8a,2d,  1h,3f,  8,0,  2, Rob, 	100000000000010  ; Carrier
Siege Galley, 	nil, 2,  4.,0, 10a,1d,  2h,2f, 12,0,  2, X2,  	100000001000010  ; Extra Air

Troop Transports
Early Sail,   	SE,  2,  3.,0,  0a,1d,  1h,1f,  2,1,  4, Stl, 	100000000000010  ; Galleon
Merchant Ship,	nil, 2,  4.,0,  0a,1d,  1h,1f,  3,1,  4, SE,  	100000000000010  ; Transport
Troop Galley, 	nil, 2,  5.,0,  0a,2d,  2h,1f,  5,3,  4, Plu, 	100000000100010  ; Caravel

Special Land Units
Desert Guard,	nil, 0,  0.,0,  0a,4d,  2h,2f, 50,0,  1, RR, 	000000000000000  ; Paratroopers
Aegean Guard,	nil, 0,  0.,0,  0a,4d,  2h,2f, 50,0,  1, RR, 	000000000000000  ; Mech. Inf. 
Hurrian Guard,	nil, 0,  0.,0,  0a,4d,  2h,2f, 50,0,  1, RR,  	000000000000000  ; Stlth Bmbr. 
Sea Peoples,  	nil, 0,  1.,0,  7a,2d,  2h,2f,  6,0,  0, Inv, 	100100000000100  ; Explorer
Slave Revolt, 	nil, 0,  1.,0,  2a,2d,  2h,1f,  3,0,  1, RR,  	000001000000010  ; Partisans
Desert Raiders,	nil, 0,  3.,0,  8a,2d,  2h,2f, 20,0,  0, RR,  	000000000000000  ; Cavalry
Scythian Horde,	nil, 0,  3.,0, 10a,4d,  3h,3f, 40,0,  0, RR,  	000000000000000  ; Fanatics

Leader Units
Suppiluliuma II,	nil, 0,  4.,0,  7a,3d,  2h,2f, 50,0,  0, RR,  	100000000000001  ; Test Unit 1
Rameses III,   	nil, 0,  4.,0,  9a,4d,  2h,2f, 50,0,  0, RR,  	100000000000001  ; Test Unit 4
Tiglath Pileser I,nil, 0,  4.,0,  9a,4d,  2h,2f, 50,0,  0, RR,  	100000000000001  ; Test Unit 5
Nebuchadnezzar I,	nil, 0,  4.,0,  9a,4d,  2h,2f, 50,0,  0, RR,  	100000000000001  ; Test Unit 6
Death,        	nil, 1,  3.,2, 99a,0d,  1h,1f, 20,0,  3, RR,  	000000000000001  ; Nuclear Msl.

Other
Farmers,      	nil, 0,  1.,0,  0a,1d,  2h,1f,  4,0,  5, nil, 	000000000000000  ; Settlers
Military Engineer	nil, 0,  2.,0,  4a,3d,  2h,1f,  8,0,  5, Iro, 	000000000000000  ; Engineers
Caravan,      	nil, 0,  3.,0,  0a,1d,  1h,1f,  5,0,  7, Tra, 	000000000000010  ; Freight
Royal Envoy,  	nil, 0,  2.,0,  0a,0d,  1h,1f,  8,0,  6, Cmn, 	100000000000010  ; Diplomat
Plenipotentiary,	nil, 0,  3.,0,  0a,0d,  1h,1f, 30,0,  6, RR,  	100000000000011  ; Spy

Special abilities:
000000000000001 = Two space visibility
000000000000010 = Ignore zones of control
000000000000100 = Can make amphibious assaults
000000000001000 = Submarine advantages/disadvantages
000000000010000 = Can attack air units (fighter)
000000000100000 = Ship must stay near land (trireme)
000000001000000 = Negates city walls (howitzer)
000000010000000 = Can carry air units (carrier)
000000100000000 = Can make paradrops
000001000000000 = Alpine (treats all squares as road)
000010000000000 = x2 on defense versus horse (pikemen)
000100000000000 = Free support for fundamentalism (fanatics)
001000000000000 = Destroyed after attacking (missiles)
010000000000000 = x2 on defense versus air (AEGIS)
100000000000000 = Unit can spot submarines

Unit Changes for v1.1 - The defensive capability of Iron Infantry I has been upgraded to help offset the dominance of Chariot IVs. Because several folks were using a "Bribe your way to Victory" strategy, I've made it more difficult by increasing the cost of Royal Envoys. (It IS historical, but not to that extent!)

**** CITY IMPROVEMENTS ****

To be added - Note: Consult Civilopedia for basics

**** WONDERS ****

To be added - Note: Consult Civilopedia for basics

**** TECH TREE ****

See the included file, "AE-Tech.pdf". You'll need the Acrobat Reader in order to view it, but it's free and available from many locations on the Web.

**** OBJECTIVES ****

	There are 52 total objectives in the game.  Major cities are worth 1 each and wonders do not count as objectives. To reach a decisive victory one needs a total of 45.  For a marginal victory one needs 30 objectives. A marginal defeat is less than 20 objectives, and 10 or less objectives is a decisive defeat. Here are the cities that are considered objectives:

BARBARIANS (5)                
Troy                  	    Damascus
Sardis                      Smyrna
Miletus

SEA PEOPLES (1)
Sherden (C)

BABYLONIANS (7)
Babylon (C)                 Nippur
Mari                        Eridu
Kish                        Uruk
Ur (C)

HITTITES (9)
Hattusas (C)                Carchemish
Ancyra                      Kadesh
Kanesh                      Melitene
Harran                      Hamath
Aleppo

ASSYRIANS (6)
Nineveh (C)                 Khorsabad
Ashur (C)                   Arbela
Wassugani                   Calah

EGYPTIANS (13)
Memphis (C)                 Abydos
Thebes (C)                  Amarna
Heliopolis                  Meidum
Canopus                     Bubastis
Tanis                       Gaza
Hazor                       Askelon
Byblos

GREEKS (4)
Mycenae                     Pylos
Athens (C)                  Sparta (C)

MINOR POWERS (6)
Rhodes (C)                  Jerusalem (C)
Tyre (C)                    Susa (C)
Sidon (C)                   Ecbatana (C)


**** FEATURES - COMMENTS - HISTORICAL NOTES ****

Excess Oil: Are there really oil gushers everywhere in the desert...every desert? Let's be serious. And oh so realistic in the world of Ancient Empires, too! So, I played with the Terrain1.gif file and used a type of Dune terrain which has no special power when placed on "oil bearing" terrain. I toyed with tar pits, but they were just too ugly. There are still an awful lot of desert oases, but they seemed more "probable". (Thanks to Harlan Thompson's Mongols scenario from which I borrowed the graphic and concept) 

Save the Trees: I don't know about you, but it always bugs me to see the computer civs chopping down every forest in sight. Yes, there has been significant deforestation over the millenia, but it's been a very gradual process and seemed most inappropriate for this scenario. So get used to those trees, as you can't get rid of them. Or mine them either (how many "tree mines" have you ever seen?)

The Dunes: The movement penalty of 6 makes this form of desert almost impervious to casual travelers, and was a great way to simulate the Qattara Depression (just west of the Nile Delta) and the vast Saudi and Libyan wastelands. Really adds some realism to the map, IMHO. Also let me solve the "excess oil" problem and even throw in some cool Date Palm oases (historically far more valuable than a simple water hole). Thanks again HT!

More Animals: First of all, most of the default special terrains weren't very appropriate for the Ancient Near East.
Silk, Coal, Buffalo, Bananas, Whales, Spice, Walrus, Musk Ox, Arctic Oil, Beaver Pelts, they all had to go. In their stead we have Deer, Game Fish, Game Birds (ptarmigan, quail, etc), Crocodiles, Sheep, and Rabbits. I'm not the first to do this kind of thing, obviously, but I did give serious consideration about which animals to use and where they'd be located. As an occasional hunter, I can assure you that proximity to very large cities has had little impact on deer, rabbit, and quail populations (many other factors contribute, I know). Likewise, if you're looking for deer, head for a forest. You won't find many "deer herds" on the plains. The reality is that the ancients inhabited a world teeming in wild life and hunting was a big part of their lives. This map reflects that.

A Realistic Map: I slaved over this puppy! It's a pretty good depiction of the geograpic realities of the Ancient Near East circa 3000 B.C. I inserted a few deliberate distortions. Crete, Cyprus, and the Nile Delta are a bit larger than the scale called for, and Anatolia (modern Turkey) is too thin, but otherwise it's pretty close. Also, I had to make some changes to improve playability. Checked out a topo map of Greece lately? It would be nothing more than hills and mountains if I hadn't "improved on nature". Likewise the real Aegean Sea (between modern Greece and Turkey) is just packed with islands, most of which I omitted.

Unit Sizes: So there you are, a Hittite General facing a host of angry Egyptians. You have a huge Chariot army. Do you send them off, one by one to take on the enemy? Congratulations! That strategy earned your head a place of honor atop an Egyptian lance. No, of course not, you throw the biggest group possible at them. One of the problems with Civ II military units is that army sizes never change. Sure, you can get a big stack together, but you attack and defend, one unit at a time. Ancient Empires provides the new capability of building big, earthshaking, empire crumbling, armies. Let's look at Chariots. First the "Improved Harness" technology lifts you out of the donkey-drawn 4-wheeler era ("Early Chariot") and allows you to build the first "modern" chariot (Chariot I: 4A,1D). "Spoked Wheels" improves speed and durability, and also reflects that you spent time training them to work as teams. You can build a bigger unit now, Chariot II (5A,2D). The trend continues with "Metal Axles" (Chariot III: 7A,2D), culminating with "Chariot Tactics" (Chariot IV: 9A,2D). That is one big (expensive) mother of an army. In fact, once you reach the Bronze Age, almost every unit can be built in sizes up to two or four. In some cases, technology changed so quickly that it wouldn't make sense to offer, for example, Bronze Infantry III. By the time you could build them, it's Iron Age time! Tactics also have an impact. Iron Infantry are good, but Phalanx tactics change the equation again, and so on.

Making Ancient Warfare "Fun": As any dedicated Civ IIer well knows, you just try to colonize and survive until you reach the no-holds-barred modern era. Ancient units suck. Well, as an amateur historian let me tell you, those ancient armies were capable of lightning blitzkriegs. There's nothing boring about what the ancient Hittites, Assyrians, Egyptains, Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks did to their neighbors over the millenia! There are no laser cannons here, but I think you'll find things to be fast paced and interesting.

Not just a Scenario: I strove hard to make this the kind of system which anyone can use to create their own specialised ancient warfare scenario. The technology tree takes you in a fairly logical progression from Stone Age to Late Iron Age. The units, city improvements, and wonders are appropriate for the age and follow a similar growth pattern. Using most of the Ancient Empires files and a new map, you could simulate any number of interesting historical events. Upper Egypt vs. Lower Egypt (3000 BC). The Rival City-States of Sumer (2800 BC). The Battle of Kadesh (1330 BC).  The Hebrews Conquer the Promised Land (1220 BC). The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). The possibilities are endless.....therefore it would be nice if the scenario-creation process wasn't! Again, feel free to use this as a model.

Military Technology: Four in particular dominated the Ancient Near East. 1) Chariots: These early "tanks" controlled the battlefield for over a thousand years. Pity the poor foot soldier, clad in leather, trying to hurl one of his few spears at the oncoming wall of charioteers. The only way to deal with them was to cower behind city walls or head for "wheel-unfriendly" terrain. Not a good strategy for dominating the choicest terrain of the Ancient Near East.....the vast Fertile Crescent which stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Nile Valley. 2) Naue Type II Sword: When you think of the classic sword, medium length, double-edged, good for stabbing and hacking, this is it. Surprisingly, this type of sword only appears in the Near East around 1200 B.C. The earliest "Sickle Swords" were copper, curved, edged on one side, and no good for stabbing. A classic case of using new technology (copper) to make an identical copy of an existing implement (the bone-or-wood, obsidian-edged sword). Small wonder the spear, sling, and bow were the preferred weapons of the era. The Naue Type II Sword, in combination with improved armor and a javelin which could be hurled on the run, changed the whole dynamic of warfare and made chariots obsolete almost overnight. 3) Phalanx Tactics: What happened to the Iron Age, you ask? Well sure, Iron is harder than Bronze (and more importantly, cheaper), but tactics didn't change much...and tactics are what revolutionize warfare. The Greeks were the first to realize that rather than hurling spears as a prelude to the real action (hackin' away at each other with those NTII swords), there could be a better way of doing things. What would happen if you made those spears real long and stout(say 18 foot or so), and then trained your soldiers to point them forward, interlock their shields, and just march straight toward the enemy? You win a LOT of battles, that's what! Here's one major quibble with the Civ II designers: The phalanx was the premier OFFENSIVE formation of Ancient Near Eastern warfare. Not until the advent of the Legion would a phalanx-based army be defeated (unless the other guys had a phalanx too!). Smart guy, great general though he was, the phalanx was the key to Alexander the Great's conquest of all the Ancient Near East. 4) The Legion: The Roman Empire. Nuff said. What made the legion great? Really, it was the premier "combined arms" force of it's day. Most of the technology and weapons already existed, but the Romans fused them together into a disciplined war machine the likes of which the Ancient World had never seen. They did come up with a neat improvement to the old lance concept. The Roman spear, or "pilum", was so heavy that when the enemy lifted his shield to absorb the blow, it dug in and weighed him down. It also featured a "break-away tip" which would shear off if the enemy tried to remove it. That kept him from hurling the pilum right back at the Romans. Meanwhile, the spear he'd thrown at the Romans was on its way back with a vengeance, and here he was fussin' around without a shield. Oops. They also turned siege warfare into an art, and were capable of quickly erecting fortified encampments to protect themselves while traversing hostile terrain. But mostly they just made minor improvements to existing technology (such as borrowing better sword, helmet ,and shield designs from their foes). The legion was also more flexible than the massive phalanx, and could easily subdivide when necessary. What really set the Legion apart was it's ferocious discipline. An example. A unit which displayed cowardice or even a poor attitude, could be subject to "decimation". You've probably heard the word before, as it's passed into modern parlance as a synonym for "devastate" or "destroy". The original meaning was quite specific. Line up the whole legion, select every tenth man, and kill him. It did wonders for discipline.


**** THANKS ****

	I borrowed units, ideas, and concepts quite liberally from many other scenarios in the course of developing "Ancient Empires". If your work is included here and you'd like to receive credit, send me an email and I'll gladly include you. There are many good scenario creators out there, and I hesitate to name any for fear of ommitting others who are equally deserving of recognition. Having said that, my profound thanks must go out to Harlan Thompson. His scenarios really raised the bar for everyone and always left me striving to add that one final touch of realism.
	Since posting version 1.0, a number of folks have playtested "The End of the Bronze Age" and provided some valuable insights. Thanks to MrTemba, Black Dragon, Jim Winchell, and St. Leo for your comments and ideas. My memory has also been jogged a bit with respect to where some of the icons came from. Thanks to Jesus Balsinde, Allard Hofelt, and Pablo Farias for the many fine period-specific graphics you've created. Utilizing your work (and that of others) makes scenario creation much more realistic and a lot less tedious. The biggest improvement is the new Graphics Interface. My profound thanks go out to Tecumseh, who did such an outstanding job. It's entirely his concept and artwork, and togther they significantly enhance the Ancient Empires experience! The new Title Page is also his creation.


